Back to School 2013

The 2013-2014 school year has officially started!!! This year to kick off the festivities, we decided to start a new tradition that our family can look forward to each year. CUPCAKES!!!!

 We had cupcakes for breakfast! I had seen this cute cupcake kit at ALDI the other day and knew with it's university theme, it would be the perfect start to our day.

 (Not to mention that Woogy LOVES Sully and Mike!)

 After icing and decorating our cupcakes, we got all sugared up!!!

Then we moved on to our yearly tradition of front porch pictures with the "principal"!! It was raining like crazy on Monday, but we were able to snap a quick pictures between downpours!

Bitsy joined us in picture day!

 My sweet cuties!!

 Then we headed into the table to start our day!!

 We worked on matching!

Some handwriting!!

 Hand-eye coordination!

Then as a first day treat(mess) we made moonsand!!! We put Kool-aid in it for a yummy smell and to add color! It was tons of fun!!

We had a first great day and we are all really excited about our year! It's such a blessing that daddy will be home to teach school with me most days and that he will be able to have such a positive, manly influence on our boys! 

Faith in Action Friday: When Hard Times Come

I love that God will never leave me.

I love that things all happen for a reason.

I love that each hard time I experience, grows my faith.

I love that God has a plan for every tiny detail of my life.

I love that my reaction to trials can bring others to the Lord.

I love that down the road I will be able to look back and rejoice in this suffering.

I love that my suffering is so insignificant compared to the sacrifice the Lord made for me.

I love that when I am afraid, God holds me in His hands and covers me with His protection.

I love that someday everything will be revealed and I will see God's magnificent plan for my life!

I love that every hard time I go through, I can rest in God and know that He is using this trial to being me closer to Him.

James 1:2-18

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Morgan's Room

Before

After

Grant's Room

Before

After

I need to take some newer pictures because his room is decorated now and is super cute!!

I Found The CAMERA CORD!!!!

So here are finally some pictures of the projects that are almost completed!

Here is a beautiful garden (that is now under a foot of snow)

Before

After

Fall is on it's way!

I feel fall closing in on us. I am so not ready for the cold weather. There were frost warnings on two day this past week and Tom has started wearing some layers for his ride to the hospital at 5am. We all headed to the park last night after Tom got off work and we had to put on our coats. I invested in winter coats for Grant and myself this past week, so I'm getting prepared. I love love love the summer so I'm sad to see it slipping away. We didn't have much of a summer this year, it was beautifully hot when we left Oklahoma but we had to put on the heater the first week we arrived here and there has only been one day over about 80....we went to the beach!!!

I'm so excited that it's time for the school year to start back because I get to start working with Grant on his lessons, not that we don't learn every day together, but it just signals to me that I can get back out the schedules, have a plan for each day, and not spend all my time working on silly things. I thrive on lists and structure so this gets me excited. (Man I'm lame!)

Morgan seems to be a little happier, so I'm hoping this means I will get more accomplished each day besides getting basic meals cooked, enough underwear clean to get through the week, and getting a movie popped in for Grant before I wrestle the beast the rest of the day. Please pray that Morgan stays happier this week, it's still overwhelming.

The house is coming along but there is still so much left to do. The upstairs is almost finished being drywalled and we are almost ready to paint, I cannot wait!! Then its down to the basement to work on the playroom. I'm so ready to get that spray painted graffiti of male genitalia off my wall!!! I know!!! I was hoping we would be a lot further along on everything but with Tom's schedule, Morgan being a hand full right now, and my symptoms flaring up do to lack of rest, it's about all we can do to make it through the day and working on the room for an hour to an hour and a half before bed.

We are really enjoying Michigan, despite the cold, but really miss our family being close. I am very excited about Thanksgiving because Tom will be off, my parents will be coming up and hopefully the house will be in better shape for them to see. Even though I hate the cold, I love snow, so I'm looking forward to a REAL snow this year and seeing Grant enjoy playing in it! I so want to post some after pictures of the house and especially of our front garden, it is beautiful, but I've yet to find the camera cord and now the camera is dead because that is how it charges too....so you will just have to wait and deal with the suspense, sorry!

Overwhelmed

I wrote this on my other blog today, I know a lot of us are settling in to a new life and having some difficulties in the process. I hope that these scriptures and what was on my heart today will help some of you get through these trying days easier. You are all in my prayers and I hope you will keep our family in your prayers.

http://devotioninmotion.blogspot.com/2009/07/leaning-on-everlasting-arms.html

Alive and Kicking!

I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone for keeping us in their thoughts and prayers over the last couple of weeks!

We are trying to get the first level of our new home livable and still are living out of boxes and eating picnic style on our beautiful wood floors that my sexy hubby just finished installing! Hehe I'm so happy to be back online to pay some bills and see how everyone is doing, but I have to admit, I really enjoyed the cyber break. It's amazing how much time this sucks out of our days.

Morgan is getting big, I can't believe he is now over a month old, where has the time gone. He has been very colic-y but we just got some new medicine yesterday and I am already seeing a huge change in his attitude and pain level, so hopefully my possessed child will get his voice back soon and will stop screaming. JK, but it really does hurt me to see him in so much pain, I'm hoping this phase will be ending and he can rest.

Grant is loving his park down the block, likes his new yard, big boy bed, and helping daddy paint, mud, and fix things. So many adjustments at once, but he has been a big boy and we haven't had any big problems, (thank goodness for living on the road for so long......this craziness just seems normal to him).

Tom is getting settleind in with residency and tonight is his first night on call, we will see how I do. The residents are great and all the husbands are very friendly. I am the only wife besides a much older couple than all the rest of us, so it's kinda weird that it's me and some stay at home (can't find employment) husbands. Only one other resident has a little boy so we are the only ones with kids besides them too, guess we are weird! That's OK.

I am really looking forward to getting to know more people around the city and get involved in some clubs and organizations, but that will come in time. After the house is put together more it will just be nice to sit and enjoy each other. I am slowing down on painting and other things on the house as I really want to enjoy this season with Morgan and Grant and don't want to look back and have no memories of our new little guy....materialistic things can wait for some other day.

I will be reading up on your blogs to see what I've missed lately, can't wait to hear from all of you! Take care!

Beware the Big Fish

As I write this, I am almost in tears. It has finally hit me that we are leaving this coming Tuesday to PERMANENTLY move to Michigan. I knew it was coming, but I don't think the reality of it really set in until today when our buyer's agent called and asked "Thursday or Friday?" for our closing day and I started running around packing last minute things, making a reservation for a moving truck and making lists of things that had to be completed before we blast off. I was so relieved and refreshed when I looked over at my daily devotional on my blog and it had this wonderful scripture for me.

Jonah 1:1-3 NIV: "The word of the LORD came to Jonah´Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.´ But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish."
Jonah learned the hard way what happens when a child of God does not yield to the will of God. In our lives as believers, it is probable that God is going to lead us in a direction we did not expect, or lead us to do a work we would never have chosen to do. And within that moment, we (like Jonah) have a choice: we can be obedient to God´s will, thus allowing God to work through us as He wishes; or we can run from God´s will and, essentially, be miserable. It is not God´s intention to make you miserable. But rest assured that since we are His, and since we have a purpose of God´s desire, we must function accordingly if we are to have peace. The benefits far outweigh the costs. Letting go of what we think or want is difficult, but necessary, if God is to complete His perfect work in us. Anything else is like kicking "against the goads." The best thing we can do is simply follow His way, and stop trying to force our will above His.

I am still always amazed at how God always has just the right message for me at the right time. I know that God has great plans for our family there and that these next four years are going to be a wonderful adventure as long as we remember to rely on Him. I'm sure post-pregnancy hormones are playing a big part of this too, but all the unknown is sometimes overwhelming. Please keep our family in your prayers during this next week with our closing, new car, traveling, remodeling, and settling in all comes to fruition! I hope you all have a great week!

Friends!

One of the hardest parts about moving to a new area is leaving behind everything you know and EVERYONE you know! It is also overwhelming to think about meeting new people and having to start relationships from ground zero. I so cherish the friends that I have made here in Tulsa, but they can't BE in Michigan and to not be super lonely, obviously, I have to make new friends. This is very hard for me and I've been praying that God will help me and open up opportunities to meet new people. I've already contacted the nearest MOPs group, the Muskegon LLL, and a family group there that has activities and outings for us to go to, so hopefully I'm on my way.

Another thing that makes me sad about leaving, is that Grant has just now gotten to that age where he is starting to play WITH friends, not just around other kids. He has really started to enjoy playing with Ryan, my BF's little boy, and he really looks forward to hanging out with him whether it's at the park, mall, or one of our homes. While I know he wont be really aware of all that is happening, it will be sad that we won't get to have our weekly play date together anymore.

Grant is also going to miss heading to his favorite park, just right down the road from our house.

It's Go Time!

So we are officially one week away from heading to Muskegon! I'm so excited and cannot wait to look at homes! There is one house we really love and I'm trying not to get too excited about the possibility of it not being what we think it is now. I always do this, I tell myself not to get too set on something and get my hopes up, but that never works. Doesn't everyone want to live in a pink house?



I've made lists for weeks of what I need to pack, but have forced myself not to put one thing into the suitcase before next Tuesday, because "ALL WE NEED TO TAKE IS NECESSITIES, AND IF YOU CAN PACK IT A WEEK OUT, THEN YOU MUST NOT REALLY NEED IT TO SURVIVE!!" Some mantra! I always over pack, so this time, I'm going to try to surprise Tom by not packing then entire house into our Trailblazer.

I've tried to get everything done ahead of time, but my lists keep growing. We took the SUV to be serviced so it would be ready for the 20 million trips back and forth from Michigan, so that was over $1000! We've stocked up on some snacks for the car ride and burned some new DVD's to keep the Who-poo entertained for the 14 hour trip. The Evites for the next two SAA play dates are ready to go and I'm almost finished with the SAA Newsletter for April- hooray! We have family pictures this weekend, so we will have pictures of Grant around his second b-day and pictures without me looking like a bloated fish! Oh those days are approaching soon! All I have left to do is go to two Dr's appointments, take all of Tom's dry cleaning, go sign up for my epidural, pay some bills, go to a laser tag party(hubby needs some fun), clean the car out, then pack and load it back full of junk! What a work out!

I'm so excited, I hope next Thursday gets here quickly because I can't wait to see the town that we will be living in for the next 4 years. Now I may not be this excited once I actually see it, but that's another post!

Will Someone Please Kill Me Now!

You Might Be From Michigan If.......

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Michigan

If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Pelston is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Michigan.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Michigan.

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Michigan.

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Michigan.

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Michigan.

If you have worn shorts and a coat at the same time, you might live in Michigan.

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Michigan.

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Michigan.

You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when...
1. "Vacation" means going up north on I-75.
2. You measure distance in hours.
3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
6. You see people wearing fall formal wear = camouflage at social events (including weddings).
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
11. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.
13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a deer 'bow target' next to your blue spruce.
14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
15. Down South to you means Ohio
16. A Muskrat is something you can eat.
17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole barn,
18. You go out to fishfry every Friday.
19. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
21. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."
22. You drink pop and bake with soda.
23. Your doctor tells you to drink Vernors and you know it's not medicine.
24. You know what a Yooper is.
25. You think owning a Honda is UnAmerican.
26. You know that UP is a place not a direction
27. You know it's possible to live in a thumb.
28. You understand that when visiting Detroit, the best thing to wear is a Kevlar vest.